“I won’t go to school today!”
Says Tinku crying and kicking
Screaming and imploring.
“Today I want a holiday!”

I’ll just lie in bed and be very good,
I won’t cry and fuss about food.
“Tell me, what will happen pray
If I don’t go for just one day.”

“You won’t become wise or clever,”
Says mother gently.
“You’ll be neither doctor nor engineer”
Says father angrily.

“You won’t go to America
Like your uncles, aunts and cousins
You’ll be left here in India,”
Wise old grandpa chips in.

“Don’t you want a good wife?
Plenty of money and a car?
A rich and luxurious life?”
Asks simple and sweet grandma.

“You say things, I don’t understand
Your ideas are too big for my tiny mind”.
“That’s why you need to go to school,
Else you will always remain a simple fool”!